So, where was I…

Yes, I had retrieved my wallet from the taxi driver and had sprinted back to the gate on time to board my flight bound for Singapore.

As I came on board, I didn’t even wait to sit down before asking for a water.   I was still huffing and puffing and I was so parched seeing as how I had to toss my water bottle at the security earlier.

Thank God they take credit cards on the plane cause it woulda been a long 2 hour trip with no water.

It was the first time I had worn my normal shoes in a few days because I pretty much lived in my swim trunks and flip flops during all the Songkran craziness.

I only bring this up because I’ve had a sore left big toe for a few days now.   A war wound from Songkran as running in wet flip flops is a good way to stub your toe.

Even after 3 days it’s still pretty tender and it has a nice blue hue underneath half the nail.

Anyway, back to the shoes…

Yeah, I had to take my left shoe off for the flight cause my toe was killing me.   Seems I’ll be in my flip flops for a few more days.

That was alot to write to basically say I have a bruised toe.

Anyway, we landed just before 1pm here in Singapore which is one hour ahead of Thailand.

As expected, customs here in Singapore is a little more thorough.   An indication of that was on my immigration form I had to fill out on the flight over.   On the reverse side was a blurb about drugs and the death penalty.

If that isn’t a wake up call to how serious they take that stuff, nothing is.

So customs took a little longer as the lines were pretty long.   I had no problem though as I was just whisked on through.   Must be my gentle disposition…

I had very specific directions for how to get to my hostel using the MRT transit lines and actually found it no problem at all to arrive at my hostel.

I checked in, got settled in and headed out to get some lunch.

I asked the guy at the front desk where to go and he directed me to the Buris station two stations away on the MRT.   I took his advice but was sadly disappointed to see I had arrived at a mall.

Sure there was food there but that wasn’t quite what I was looking for.

I had read somewhere about food stalls being setup outside the Newton station so I popped back on the MRT to get over there.

The description I had read was that it was a great place to try all of the traditional Singapore dishes in a great outdoor atmosphere.

What it didn’t say, however, was how overpriced the stuff was.   Dishes were going for $10 to $20 here.

Now, in a restaurant I can understand those prices – only because it’s Singapore and I know it’s more expensive here than the last few countries I’ve been in.   But at a street food stall?

No way.

To be honest the food didn’t really tickle my fancy anyway.

Next stop – Chinatown…

I got out of the station and right outside on the left hand side were a bunch of stalls outside a Chinese mall.

I walked past them all and looked at what they were offering and quickly found out I had hit the jackpot!

I ended up getting this amazing home made flat bread with green onions cooked into it for $1 a slice.   It was so good I actually bought 2 more slices to enjoy later on in the evening.

I also had roasted duck on top of fried noodles.   I love duck and the price tag of only $4.50 just made it taste that much better.

I even found a couple places there selling bottled water for $1.   Sure, that’s more than the 20 cents I had been paying in Thailand but it sure was alot cheaper than the $2.80 that the 7-11’s were charging here in Singapore.

So, after taking the MRT to a bunch of different stops I found what I was looking for in Chinatown.

After lunch it was almost 6pm and, honestly, I was beat.   The combination of a short nights’ sleep with running back and forth in an airport along with a sore toe had beat me down.

I retired to my room at the hostel and spent the night in.

Tomorrow is my only full day here in Singapore so I want to make it count.

Will I go to the zoo?   Will I go down to the waterfront?   Shopping?

Maybe I’ll just go back to Chinatown and veg for the day…

Guess you’ll just have to tune in tomorrow…